U.S. Route 171

U.S. Route 171
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 71
Length:	183 mi (295 km)
Existed:	1930 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 90 / LA 14 in Lake Charles
	I-10 in Lake Charles US 190 / LA 12 in Ragley US 190 / LA 27 in DeRidder US 84 in Mansfield LA 3132 in Shreveport I-20 in Shreveport
North end:	US 79 / US 80 / LA 3094 in Shreveport
Location
Parishes:	Calcasieu, Beauregard, Vernon, Sabine, DeSoto, Caddo
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced

U.S. Route 171 (US 171) is a 183-mile-long (295 km) north–south United States highway. This short route, entirely within western Louisiana, has remained largely unchanged from its original 1926 route.

The highway's southern terminus is in Lake Charles at an intersection with U.S. Route 90. Its northern terminus is in Shreveport, at an intersection with US 79/US 80. Here, the roadway continues as Louisiana Highway 3094.

Route description

U.S. 171 is a major highway and is mostly divided, except through some towns. Beginning south to north from U.S. 90 the highway crosses I-10 then through Moss Bluff and the community of Gillis before entering Beauregard Parish. Next the community of Ragley, at the junction of U.S. Route 190 and Louisiana Highway 12. U.S. 171 continues north running concurrent with U.S. 190. The highway travels through the community of Longville before entering DeRidder. In DeRidder U.S. 171 crosses the Kansas City Southern Railroad tracks and passes through the DeRidder Commercial Historic District before splitting with U.S. 190. The old Sawmill community of Luddington is within the northern city limits. The northern city limits is also the Vernon Parish line. The old sawmill town of Midway is less than a mile north of DeRidder. About two miles north is the community of Rosepine. Two miles north of Rosepine is the site of the old Neame sawmill community. At a point in history this was a booming town with only two abandoned graves and a mill pond as memories. One graveyard, in a field south of a chip mill, is blocked by trees surrounding it or it would otherwise be in plain sight of the highway. U.S. 171 travels through the community of Pickering and the junction of LA 10, the main entrance to Fort Polk, Louisiana, New Llano, then into the city of Leesville. In Leesville U.S. 171 intersects with west Louisiana Highway 8 (to Texas) and runs concurrent with east LA 8 to the junction of LA 8/LA 28 east to Alexandria at the north Leesville city limits. A newly opened roundabout (traffic circle) completes the junction with LA 28, to hopefully correct several fatal car crashes at the intersection.

North of Leesville U.S. 171 goes through the communities of Hawthorn, Anacoco, and Hornbeck. Just north of Hornbeck is the Sabine Parish line and then Hodges Garden. U.S. 171 travels through the village of Florien the historic village of Fisher, where the annual sawmill days festival is held, the city of Many, the villages of Zwolle, Noble, then Converse. Just north of Converse U.S. 171 enters De Soto Parish then the village of Benson.

Four miles south of South Mansfield is the Mansfield State Historic Site that commemorates the 1864 Battle of Mansfield, and then Mansfield. North of Mansfield U.S. 171 runs through the village of Grand Cane, then the community of Kickapoo. Here U.S. 171 junctions with LA 5. To the west is the town of Keachi that has at least 10 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. To the east is the unincorporated community of Gloster that has three buildings on the National register. About a mile north of the community of Stonewall U.S. 171 enters into Caddo Parish and travels through Keithville. On the south side of Shreveport, U.S. 171 junctions with the Inner Loop Expressway (Highway 3132). Through Shreveport to just north of East 70th Street (LA 511), it is called Mansfield Road, where Mansfield Road continues northeast and U.S. 171 continues north as Hearne Avenue. It junctions with U.S. 79 and U.S. 80 just north of I-20.

In a recent mistake found by the Louisiana DOTD, LA 3094, located at the northern terminus of US 171, was originally planned to be an extension north of the federal highway, and was the temporary designation. However, the routing for US 171 was never moved north. Once this mistake is fixed, US 171 will, in fact, meet US 71 once again.

History

US 171 began as a major two-lane highway. In 1962, I-210 was completed, and funds were appropriated for the highway to become four-laned. In the mid-1960s, the old iron bridge over the Calcasieu River, north of Lake Charles, was replaced and the highway was altered for the new bridge and portion of highway going into Moss Bluff. US 171 was designated a Blue Star Memorial Highway on Nov.11, 1964, and a highway marker was placed in the historic district at the junction with Washington street. The TIMED Program widening of US 171 completed in July 2010 and it is now a four-lane divided highway for its entire rural existence.

Major intersections

Parish	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Calcasieu	Lake Charles			US 90 (Fruge Street) / LA 14 south (Martin L. King Highway)	Southern terminus
				LA 3020 (Opelousas Street)
				I-10 – Beaumont, Lafayette	I-10 exit 33.
	​			LA 3059
	Moss Bluff			LA 378 (Sam Houston Jones Parkway)
Beauregard	Ragley				US 190 east / LA 12 – Kinder, DeQuincy	South end of US 190 concurrency
	Longville			LA 110
	​			LA 394
	​			LA 26
	​			LA 112
	DeRidder			US 190 west / LA 27 – Jasper, DeQuincy	North end of US 190 concurrency
Vernon	​			LA 3226
	Rosepine			LA 1146
	Pickering			LA 10
	Leesville			LA 1211
				LA 467
				LA 468
				LA 8 west	South end of LA 8 concurrency
				LA 1213 to LA 117
				LA 8 east / LA 28	North end of LA 8 concurrency
	Anacoco			LA 111
	Hornbeck			LA 392
Sabine	Florien			LA 474
				LA 118
	Many			LA 6 – Natchitoches
	​			LA 175
	​			US 171 Bus. – Zwolle
	Zwolle			LA 1216
				LA 120
	​			US 171 Bus. – Zwolle
	Noble			LA 1218
				LA 483
	Converse			LA 174
DeSoto	Benson			LA 512
	Mansfield			US 84 / US 84 Bus. – Logansport, Coushatta
	Grand Cane			LA 3015
	Kickapoo			LA 5
	Stonewall			LA 3276
Caddo	Shreveport			LA 525 (Colquitt Rd.)
				LA 526 (Industrial Loop Expwy.)
				LA 3132 (Inner Loop Expwy.)
				LA 511 (W. 70th St.)
				I-20 – Dallas, Monroe	I-20 exit 16A.
				US 79 / US 80 (Greenwood Road) / LA 3094 north (Hearne Avenue)	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

Zwolle business route

U.S. Highway 171 Business
Location:	Zwolle
Length:	3.12 mi (5.02 km)
Existed:	2010–present

U.S. Route 171 Business (US 171 Bus.) is a 3.12-mile (5.02 km) highway in Zwolle. It travels from west to east. US 171 Bus. follows the original routing of the US 171 mainline through Zwolle, connecting the former sections of US 171. As of 2012, it is still signed as north–south US 171.

The entire highway is in Zwolle, Sabine Parish.

mi	km	Destinations	Notes
0.0	0.0	US 171 – Many	Southern terminus
0.8	1.29	LA 1216 (Horton Street)
1.5	2.4	LA 475 (Obrie Street) to LA 482 (South Main Street)
2.2	3.5	LA 120 (Oak Street)
3.1	5.0	US 171 – Mansfield	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• Louisiana portal
• U.S. Roads portal
• List of U.S. Highways in Louisiana

Related routes

• U.S. Route 71
• U.S. Route 271
• U.S. Route 371

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
• Endpoints of US highways